Daily updates about Syria

5/7/2014

The Syrian government has apparently been targeting athletes for arrest and torture because of their fame and ability to rally people to their causes.

Rebels began their withdrawal from Homs, taking 1 bag and 1 gun each, as well as 1 RPG and 1 heavy machine gun per bus, as part of their truce with the government.

–When the first group of rebels reach the town of Al Dar Al Kabirain the northern Homs countryside, a group of hostages will be released to the Syrian government.

Photos of Homs and the buses rebels were evacuated on:

The US asked Lebanon not to facilitate the voting process for Syrians living in Lebanon during the upcoming presidential elections, calling them a “farce”.

–Currently there are more than 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Syria’s Foreign Minister forecast a “prosperous tourist season” for the region of Homs this summer, despite the three year old civil war.

–Many tourist sites in the city of Homs, such as it’s crusader castle and the Old City, have suffered heavy damage during the conflict.

A report from the Ministry of Interior showed a 50% decrease in death from traffic accidents between 2012 and 2013 due to increased surveillance cameras, increased patrols, and greater training for traffic police.

–They made no mention of results stemming from the war, such as impassable roads.

The Islamic Front claimed to have destroyed 9 tanks when they repelled 6 attempts by the regime to retake the Battalion 559 tank depot in eastern Qalamoun.

The Islamic Front also said that they destroyed three tanks and killed dozens of troops and militia fighters in an ambush when they tried to storm Mleha under the cover of 10 airstrikes.

–Yesterday the government claimed to have destroyed most of the rebel positions in Mleha.

–Rebels said that government forces had reached the central square on Monday, but had been driven out by Tuesday.

Ahmad Jarba said that he will ask the Obama administration for anti-aircraft missiles during his visit to the US.

The Sharia Executive Council released footage of colonel Ahman al-Na’ma, who had a bruise on his left eye, where he talked about his surrender of the Kharbat Ghazala village.

–He was arrested by Jahbat al-Nusra on the third along with other rebel leaders.

The ISIL issued an order to residents of Ar Raqqah to evacuate “all police residence, the martyrs’ residences, the officers’ residences and residences that lie behind state security branch and in the perimeter of the al-Istiqlal garden in al-Raqqa city” so that non-Syrian fighters may inhabit them.